Vegan advice: Increasing my vegan food options

Q:I would love to be able to find way more foods in the supermarkets that are vegan and gluten free. The limited lines does make it difficult at times. Having to travel anything up to 100km each way to a vegan supermarket can be deflating. - Searching

Dear Searching,

Thanks for the great question. This is a problem a lot of people come across when they first enter the world of plant based eating. It can seem a bit limiting, especially if you stick to only products that are labelled as 'vegan'. There are hundreds, even thousands of foods that vegans can naturally eat. You have the whole world of fruit and veg, nuts, grains, seeds, and legumes, on top of all the new 'vegan' products that are coming online. Also a lot of the foods that you know and love are just vegan by chance. Get good at reading product labels you will be suprised at what you find. But I think the absolute best thing you can do is work on your cooking skills, you can whip up a vegan version of pretty much anything once you get the hang of it. There are loads of great vegan cookbooks and vegan recipe sites online to get you feeling inspired and creative. I like the Minimalist Baker and Vegan Richa and It Doesn't Taste Like Chicken Vegan Australia also has a great Vegan grocery guide which you can check out.

Georgia xx

Georgia Bamber is a vegan success coach based in the Southern Highlands NSW. Certified in coaching and plant based nutrition she knows a thing or two about embracing a vegan lifestyle. You can find out more about Georgia and how she can help you at www.successfullyvegan.com.